Only Good Thing
by duaedenateist
Summary: "I know that! Can't you see? My dad is dead. My mother is busy running the company and crying. Everything is going shitty, you're the only good thing." She pointed her house, "This feels like home Felicity. Not a huge manor, this..." High School AU / One Shot


Felicity walked to her usual after-lunch spot. She usually came here to relax for a few minutes until the next period and to pull herself together. Today was no exception. She heard the crying sounds and took cautious steps towards it and she saw Thea Queen, the most popular sophomore in the history of this high school, crouched down and crying. She hadn't realized Felicity between the sobs that shook her.

Felicity could only guess of course, but it wasn't hard to see that this was because she had lost her father 4 months ago. Felicity's father had left her when she was 12, making it very clear that he wasn't into her mother anymore and this wasn't the life he desired, this wasn't the family he wanted to have. Her heart had been broken into pieces but she wasn't sure if it would hurt more or maybe less if he died. A piece of her heart she couldn't mend was telling her she would rather have him dead but at least still loving his daughter.

So Felicity went and sat beside her, putting her hand on Thea's soft hair, she flinched and looked up, "Who are you?"

"I'm Felicity, I, uh.."

Thea cut her off, "What are you doing here?"

"I come here everyday to have a few moments of calmness, you know."

Thea sniffed her nose and reached the wall behind her to support herself up, "I'm sorry I didn't know."

Felicity rushed after her, "No, no. It's okay, you can stay, it's not like it's my property or anything."

Thea flashed her an expressionless look with red eyes and a puffy nose, Felicity sighed and spoke softly, "You want to talk about it?"

"Why?"

"Well, uh, I lost my dad, I mean it was a bit different but, you know.." Felicity trailed off.

"Yeah, well. It is different and I sure as hell am not going to receive pity from the school freak." Thea answered with a venom in her voice.

Felicity sat down again and stared around numbly. This hadn't been her day and she wasn't going to let it get worse by going to biology class. Her lab partner always made things worse, like sister like brother she thought.

* * *

Oliver sat on the chair and waited for Felicity to show up. He was meaning to talk to her, ask her for help, apologize. After the Laurel fiasco where she had been called a slut who was just one more girl to bed Oliver Queen and he had ended up at the principal's office because he beat Andy Cross' baby brother Josh, she was ignoring him. Oliver was smart enough to threaten him before they went in so he wouldn't cost Felicity her scholar ship. Thankfully Josh was too stupid to call his bluff. She couldn't bear looking at him after the incident but she didn't try to change her lab partner either. Although considering her situation it was normal she didn't.

In the end it was senior year and he had to study for SATs. She was totally going to be the valedictorian so who was better than her? He also knew her for over a year, they had been lab partners at chemistry class sophomore year, she rambled a bit and she was incredibly cute, not to mention a complete genius but he hadn't gotten to see her in junior year. He had been, sort of busy. He had grown up that summer and that year the girls were eating up all his attention not Felicity. Not that Felicity wasn't a girl but still.

Also there was the fact that she had absolutely no friends and very few people knew the reason, he was one of them. Senior years had bullied her for better part of the junior year and somehow no one had a thing to say about it including him so she had become the school freak and after that no one even dared to come close to her. Rumors were there of course but rumors also suggested that he had been involved in a threesome which also contained Laurel, who happened to be his on and off girlfriend before the fiasco and Tommy. The thought was sincerely stomach turning, not that he was against any kind of sexual interest people had, but fucking his girlfriend with his best friend? That was seriously disturbing for him.

But unfortunately Felicity hadn't appeared to class that day and it was a first. Yeah there were times she was sick and all, but she had never ditched a class as long as he was aware. So in the break he had gone out to look for her but he forgot what he was doing the second he saw Thea.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really... I just miss him."

Oliver pulled her sister in a hug, "I know, I do too. But you have always been the closest to him, I'm so sorry Thea."

"You know who saw me like this?"

"Who?"

"Felicity. Felicity Smoak tried to show sympathy to me can you believe it?"

"You've seen her?"

"Yeah, apparently she has a place to crash in school. She goes there every day, probably cries till it's time for the next period."

Oliver ignored her comment and her tone. Thea was still a kid. "Where?"

"You know where the window of principal's office looks?" Oliver nodded, "Go straight forward and you'll see her."

Oliver left Thea and started to walk but in his second step, Thea caught up with him, "Are you literally going to see her? Ollie you know her reputation wha-"

Oliver cut her short, "She's had it hard, Speedy. Just as hard as you, more actually."

He walked past her and went straight there, only to find it empty.

* * *

"Melissa, please?" Thea begged. She had been good friends with any kind of authority and worker the school contained. They always came in handy and they weren't that bad to hang out with, or their kids for that matter. Now Melissa was her best work ever, she had found and gifted the outfit she wore for the first date to the man she was married now. She had been her bride's maid even so she knew she wouldn't come out empty.

"Please? Look I need her, only me. No bad things, no drama. I just need to see her I can't live with the guilt."

"You made a stupid comment about her situation in school and she didn't even yell at you, did she?"

Thea's eyes expanded and Melissa shook her head, "She didn't tell me anything. I don't even talk to her frequently. I just know your kind likes to look down on a girl who has a scholarship and an a... uh, few problems." Melissa knew what had happened to Felicity Smoak but she wasn't going to tell Thea, she knew Melissa was trustworthy.

Melissa wrote her the address and handed her the paper, "She likes pizza from the corner. Go and apologize."

Thea left confused but made her way to get some pizza anyway.

* * *

Felicity heard the doorbell and stopped cold. She didn't want to open it, there was only one person that could come home at that hour and that was her mother after getting fired. Alcoholics didn't have the best record in careers. Taking a deep breath she opened the door hesitantly and came face to face with Thea Queen.

Thea put her hand on the door, just in case, "Please don't shut it on my face."

Felicity took a step back and motioned her inside, "I won't."

Thea handed her the pizza and turned to her after getting inside, she wasn't interested in the way the house looked, she didn't even take a long look but it didn't look like a warehouse, even in comparison to her house.

"I just wanted to apologize, for my words today. Sometimes I get shallow and stupid.. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I am used to it by now."

Thea took a step further, "But you shouldn't be, you should fight back."

"That is the reason I am the school freak in the first place, Thea."

"Can I ask what happened?"

"Andy Cross happened. He needed help with his physics class so I offered it to him. We were in the cafeteria in lunch break and I was preparing him for the exam then his friends came and teased him about me. He said, "Please with this girl? Come on guys I have standards." I immediately packed my things and I was just about to take my lunch tray, he pulled it to himself and said 'No food for fat bitches.' His friends laughed.. so I ripped the tray from his hands and I slammed it to his face."

Thea gasped in shock, they were standing in the middle of her living room and Felicity looked incredibly angry.

"According to our school counselor I have anger issues, triggered by my dad leaving me. I don't know how it's linked and I don't care, to be honest. I've never been through something like this in my life. I think it was the hormones or recklessness or maybe the alcoholic mother, it doesn't matter. I have a scholarship and I couldn't risk losing it for a stupid incident like this so they bullied me for the rest of the year and threatened me with telling everything that happened to the principal. I almost dropped my GPA because of them, my friends and school reputation was out the window in a matter of seconds. Then no one wanted to be my friend naturally, your brother was the only one who didn't try to go and rearrange the lab partnership so we are lab partners in everything now." She finished exhaustedly.

Tha seemed like she took the hint, "You dislike my brother, don't you?"

Felicity sighed heavily before finally letting go of the pizza box by placing it on the coffee table and taking a piece, "I don't necessarily hate him, I don't like him either."

_Lie _thought Thea, but she decided to not push it, she sat down next to Felicity, grabbing a piece herself, "So what are you doing with your life now?"

"I'm selling essays to college students and surviving high school." She left out the part where she hacked her dad's accounts in Cayman Islands and took money from him, continuously. For college fund, really, it's not like she was wearing Prada.

Now they were sitting on the not-so-pretty but very comfortable couch and chewing their pizza, both of them stretched their legs on the coffee table, both too lazy to get a soda from the fridge, "What're you gonna do after school?"

"I'm going to MIT, you?"

Thea let out a deep, strangled breath, "I don't know. Ollie has only one class he is not perfect at but I suck at everything. My grades are average, I am stupid."

Felicity looked at Thea's sad face, "You should try learning it from another teacher before labeling yourself."

She huffed out, "I already have tutors, I don't understand anything from them either."

"Let me try."

Thea looked at her like she had lost her mind, "What?"

"Let me try. I can teach you, I know I can." Felicity nodded to assure her and Thea shrugged, thinking that the only thing she'll be wasting would be time and it wasn't very precious to her.

Felicity got up and took the pizza, walking towards the kitchen, she came out with a bottle of wine and a soda under her arms, "Soda while studying. If you pass the test after the class, you might have a few drops of wine."

Thea grabbed her bag and followed her upstairs.

* * *

8pm and Thea wasn't around yet. Oliver was freaking out while her mother was so busy wallowing in pain at her room. He heard engine sound outside and rushed to the front door. He hoped that Thea hadn't gotten herself in trouble. He was waiting at least officer Lance but he only saw a red mini-cooper which belonged to no one but Felicity Smoak herself parked in front of the door and a yawning Thea coming out of it. She pulled Felicity out of the car and hugged her, it reminded him of the time when Thea was a little kid and she had hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her head under his chin, murmuring words he could never catch.

Felicity smiled over Thea's shoulder, "She's pretty tired."

Oliver walked and put his hand on Thea's back even though she was still hugging Felicity sleepily, "Why?"

"We studied, approximately for 4 hours. I don't think her brain was expecting this. Then she got really sleepy and her head hit my desk so I decided to bring her here."

Thea murmured dreamily, letting Felicity move out of her arms, "I understood everything Ollie, she is so nice.." She trailed off at the end.

Thankfully they had saved the wine for another time because Oliver would smell it and probably snap at Felicity, Oliver sighed, "Thank you Felicity. Promise she won't bother you anymore."

"No, no. She didn't bother me. She brought me pizza and she was a very good student, smart one. I think she can open her own business one day. Not that you don't already have a family business, but you probably will become the CEO, so I think it would be better for her to open her own place, I mean not that it's my business to plan her future and I'll just stop talking right now."

Oliver smiled as he picked Thea up, "Good night, Felicity."

"Good night." Felicity jumped to her car and drove home.

For the first time, Queens didn't seem that bad.

* * *

First few weeks were out of heaven, Thea was funny, she was smart and she always came with take out, also never mentioned her asleep mother upstairs. It was all good until Oliver came in. They had to take care of their biology reports, actually his turn of the reports since he was stupid enough to not write them down and it was due the next day. Felicity had said _shit_ for the first time ever and Oliver had gasped in shock. They were just finishing their reports when Laurel called Oliver.

After a heated argument for more than 5 minutes Oliver shut the phone, "She wants to get back together."

Felicity handed him a cold beer, she had been hiding in the kitchen while he was screaming to his phone. "Why?"

"She didn't tell me. She only said she was forgiving me for fucking you and that I had a moment of weakness and felt pity. The nerve of this woman. I swear she was not like this when we started dating."

Felicity's face fell but she didn't make any comments, so he hadn't defended her, again. But why would he, they weren't friends. She just sipped her beer, avoiding his gaze. Oliver changed the subject after taking a deep breath, somehow Felicity knew he was going to ask something and he was working up the courage.

"Felicity, I know you have Thea but my biology is really bad, can we study together?"

"Oliver Queen's biology is bad?" Felicity asked with a fake surprised face.

"Yeah, even I can't hit on the exam papers."

"Alright, we can work it out. When do we start?"

"Now?"

"Works for me."

They clinked their bottles and Felicity brought her books. They studied for the next two hours in harmony but the lab reports had already worn them out. He left her house around 9 pm, forgetting the bracelet he took off because it was pissing him off when he was trying to write and of course the lab reports he had placed on her desk.

Next day Felicity tried to return the bracelet to him in front of his locker making the first in-school contact in months but he told her to keep it, that was the first gift he had given her.

* * *

So 5 weeks later, Felicity had two students, who kept visiting her house and brought unexpected gifts. Felicity didn't know if her mother was aware of what was going on or she was still in the 'looking but not seeing phase' but either way she had nothing to say, and Felicity wouldn't care if she did, considering the fact that she was the one paying the bills and the rent. In the meantime Queen kids had invaded her life and her house, not that she didn't welcome them but it was getting more and more embarrassing until one day she snapped.

Oliver had bought a new couch saying that he needed better conditions to work since she refused going to their house. She tried to pull back after the bracelet situation, she tried really hard to avoid them in school but they didn't look like they were taking a hint. Oliver, Tommy and Thea kept coming to her lunch table and making themselves comfortable without even asking her and talking about everything but nothing in particular. Sometimes Oliver popped out of nowhere, calling her an hour earlier than usual, telling her he'll be picking her up and they were going to get breakfast. Sometimes with everyone, sometimes two of them and no one else.

One day Thea had knocked her door with paints and brushes, deciding her bedroom needed the touch of Thea Queen and she needed to stay out of it. Even Tommy was bringing stuff over that she never wanted in the first place. He was a regular too now, not much of a student but he was always there taking a soda out of the fridge the 3 of them had filled without her permission or with a game console in hand he had managed to set up while she was fighting with Oliver about their biology homework.

Every time they stepped through the door, they had a new arrangement and she wasn't able to do anything because both of the siblings were impeccably good at getting what they wanted, also very good at negotiating, and Tommy had sneaked his way around her house, also her life too and managed to become actually pretty good friends with her.

Unfortunately after literally renovating the living room and her room Thea had brought over a big television she needed help carrying from her new car. She had gotten her driver's license a day ago and the first place she drove was the mall, to get a TV.

Thea called her out to her car and Felicity thought she wanted to drive around since her license was new but Thea opened to truck and yelled, "Ta da!"

Felicity wasn't amused, "What is going on?"

"What, I just bought a TV."

"Yes, you did. You also painted my room, got me a double bed and new furniture and decoration, you placed pictures of us even in the bathroom, I don't even want to talk about Oliver's _gifts!_"

Thea looked down her lips trembling slightly, she knew what was about to come, "What the hell? What are you doing? Going around renovating my house? I don't need a make over Thea. I'm not a charity project."

"I know that! Can't you see? My dad is dead. My mother is busy running the company and crying. Everything is going shitty, you're the only good thing." She pointed her house, "This feels like home Felicity. Not a huge manor, this. And I want to, I don't know, I just, it felt good, okay. It felt good to have you, to have this."

Thea sighed sadly, "And I know same goes for Tommy and Oliver too. Tommy lost his mom years ago and his father abandoned him, he has been practically living under our roof for years now. When we lost our dad, he lost it too and it has been hard on him, just like it is hard on me and Oliver. I'm sorry I never meant to waltz into your life and do all this. It just felt natural. I'm so sorry Felicity. I really am."

Thea took out the TV and placed it on the ground barely managing to do it without breaking it and drove away in resignation, leaving Felicity with a TV in the driveway.

* * *

Thea reached home sobbing, she had to stop in the road two times to pull herself together enough to drive and when she got inside Oliver was getting ready to go to Felicity's with the books she had given him. He had studied on them and even put marks on the places he couldn't wrap his head around. When he saw Thea weeping he let the books drop on the table and rushed her, holding her upper arms he bent over to come into eye level with her, "What happened?"

She sniffed and tried to talk between the sobs that shook her, "She.. Felicity.. She doesn't want us Ollie.. She was angry.. and I.. She doesn't want the TV.." She rocked with another sob and almost fell over him. Thankfully Tommy was on the way because he didn't want to leave Thea alone when he was about to confront Felicity. Tommy came through the open door and ran to them as soon as he spotted them in the hallway.

Tommy took over Thea and picked her up, he looked at Oliver before carrying her away, he just said, "Felicity."

Oliver left the manor.

* * *

What ever he was waiting, it wasn't this. Home, their home was burning to the ground. Said TV was on the driveway and Felicity was nowhere to be found. A woman he never got to meet but already knew, was outside looking at the burning figure of the house like he was.

He ran to her and tried to catch her attention but she looked numb, "Where is Felicity? Felicity! Is she inside?" He shook the woman and she set him on fire with one motion, she nodded.

Oliver ran inside already burning his arm as he walked through the door, he saw Felicity next to the stairs, trying to hold onto it, trying so hard to stay standing. He pulled his t-shirt to cover his nose as he ran towards her.

She was almost on her knees now, coughing violently. Oliver reached her and pulled her to himself, she was holding on to his shoulder and he picked her up, slightly breaking the contact of her feet with the ground. He stumbled towards the door, tucking her body under his as much as he could, he got out of the house and put her on the ground, kneeling next to her.

He looked around and saw no medics, no one except her mother. He took his phone out of his pocket and threw it to her, "911! Now!"

Oliver stared at her almost numbly, he checked her pulse, it was there but with burns, no one could be sure, he could lose her. He had lost his father and got over it but he knew if he lost Felicity, she would take his sanity with her. He heard the sound of a car and hoped for the medic but it was only Tommy's car.

A moment later Thea was running towards Felicity with screams that burned Oliver's ears as much as smoke burned his lungs. Tommy tried to hold Thea from her waist, to contain her but she kept screaming and crying. She collapsed against Tommy while she let the world know that she wasn't accepting this, with her strangled, "No!"

* * *

Felicity opened her eyes in a hospital room and found Thea melted into Tommy's shoulder while Tommy was sleeping himself. They both had circles under their eyes and Thea's lips were cracked, her nose red. Image broke her heart. She turned to the other side of the room and saw Oliver this time. He was sleeping too but he wasn't in position he had been trying to stay awake. She could bet that it hadn't been an hour since he fell asleep. She decided to wait for any kind of pain before calling in the nurse.

They had been waiting for her to wake up, now she was going to wait for them.

Time passed quickly, she was exhausted somehow, her lungs hurt, her body felt limp but she was awake never the less and she could still move her toes and her fingers. Enough accomplishment for today she thought.

Felicity tried the keep the cough that forced itself up from her throat inside but it felt ticklish so not much later she coughed which made three of her friends jump in their seats and snap their heads to her side. She could read fear in every one of their faces. Thea and Tommy looked bad but Oliver looked like the definition of terrible.

He jumped off the couch and walked to her, "Are you okay?"

Thea and Tommy were sitting at the end of her bed too now, Tommy was still holding Thea closely, "I'm alright. The fire, my mom.." She tried to remember the details but her mind felt like it was a hollow place now.

"I'm sorry Felicity, your mom left. At least that's what we think. She just disappeared."

Felicity snorted, "Sounds like her. The house?"

Oliver shook his head slowly, "Collapsed."

"You never should have brought the furniture." Felicity said like she was apologizing.

"Well you're probably right but I think it's a good thing you get to choose now." Oliver smiled.

"No. You are not getting me a new house."

Tommy laughed, "Hell no. We're getting us a new house."

"What?"

"We'll live together now. We have been invading your house because all three of us are obsessed with you. So we decided that we can rent a place till the end of the year before you go to college and turn us into cyber-stalkers." Tommy answered again, the truth in his humor sometimes worried Felicity but she laughed all the same.

"Fine. So where do I have a scar?"

She knew she was going to have a scar. On her back. She tried to take her mother out of the bed since her cigarette inflamed their rug when she had fallen asleep and she ended up falling on Felicity which meant she fell down on the fire and put out enough of the flames for her mother to leave the house running.

Their house was made of cheap wood and soon it would collapse on her, she knew it but the pain in her back was way too much. She crawled to the stairs and let herself roll down them, she had managed to get herself to stand up but thankfully Oliver pulled her out because she had no power left inside her. She had heard Oliver's pleas but she wasn't able to answer it, she couldn't even open her eyes her lungs hurt, it burned actually. The last thing she remembered was Thea's screams. It made her blood cold as she remembered it.

Oliver distracted her from the thoughts, "Your back, all over it I'm afraid."

"Mmh, it's fine."

Thea stated matter of factly, "Oliver has one. On his right arm and trust me yours look way better than his."

Felicity looked at his fore arm, it was the outer part of it and it almost reached his wrist. Her gaze met his and it was so intense that Thea and Tommy had to look away from it.

Thankfully her doctor broke the moment, "Oh, Miss Smoak, you're awake. Welcome back."

"Did I die?"

"Once or twice, no biggie." Thea sad winking.

These people would be the death of her. Literally.

* * *

After 2 months of constant fighting, teasing and movie nights Felicity found herself in a routine she didn't want to leave. Living with Thea, Tommy and Oliver was an incredible thing, she couldn't deny it now. They had breakfast everyday together, they carpooled to school and Oliver never left her side, ever. Almost to the point of taking her from classes and dropping her off to the other one and waiting in front of the girls bathroom.

They fought about it, hard and long but in the end he was more insistent than she could imagine. That's what they were doing now, fighting again. Thea and Tommy was off to a party at the Valley and they both agreed that Thea could go since she was with Tommy and he never got caught to the police and knew his way around.

"Oliver, what is going on?" She said emphasizing ever word.

"Nothing, I told you."

"You're worried about something, you barely eat, you don't sleep and you're acting crazy towards me. I swear one second you are the sweetest person, in the other one you are pushing me away so hard without gravity I would be in an other planet by now."

Ignoring her nerdy reference Oliver turned away from her and paced around his room. She had thrown the door open without knocking and started to yell at him. He took a deep breath and Felicity waited, this was his 'I'm trying to work up my courage' reaction; deep, long breath.

"2 months, Felicity, then you're gone. You're going to MIT, who knows when I'll see you again."

"Please, you'll come to the campus every weekend."

"But what about the weekdays? You're gonna hit it off with other people, have new best friends, you'll fall in love and forget that I exist."

"Am I hearing insecurity, Oliver Queen?"

"I'm scared Felicity. I'm scared to death of losing you. I came so close once, I can't.. I can't not have you in my life."

She walked to him and wrapped her hands around his waist, "You're not gonna lose me, ever."

"You're right, you can't lose someone you don't have."

He tried to get out of her arms but she stopped him, reaching to his chin and making him face her. Then her hand slid up to his nape and she crushed her lips to his. He reacted instantly, his pulled her to himself even more, his hands roaming her body, squeezing, caressing. He lowered her to bed and kissed her with more passion, until he got softer, slower but not losing one ounce of the passion.

They didn't know how long they kissed each other or how they fell asleep in each others arms.

* * *

Thea and Tommy stumbled into the house drunk as skunks, they made their way to Felicity's room leaning into each other for support. Before they could reach her room they spotted them in Oliver's bed. Thea walked towards them in her heels and put the comforter on.

She turned to Tommy who was hugging the door frame and pulled him away with her, she answered his questioning look with slurry words and a whisper, "That's what Felicity would have done."

Tommy kissed her forehead and they went inside, to living room, opening the DVD to see Doctor Who, they shook their head in sync with amused faces because they knew Felicity was probably running a Doctor Who marathon.

They fell asleep against each other on the couch and didn't wake up until Felicity came and couldn't contain her laugh when she saw the drooling on their chin.


End file.
